1632 series battles
This is a chronological list of armed encounters, skirmishes, and pitched military battles as reported in the nearly twenty book-length works of the best selling alternate history "Ring of Fire series" created by Eric Flint in the year 2000 novel and its sequels. :This page is currently badly out of date as is the ongoing work to add synopses for the series works as a whole. About the 1632 series The novel was written as a stand-alone experiment but soon under pressure to produce a sequel, became a shared universe series and an exercise in collaborative fiction "on steroids" growing at six or more book length works per year. Having captured an immense following and taken advantage of a nurturing publisher with a dynamic author-to-fan talk forum to collectively brainstorm about the ramifications of the excellent historical research and premise in the novel , the over-scheduled creator Eric Flint decided the best course would be to get some help and solicited manuscripts for what became while concurrently co-writing with best selling author David Weber the first novel sequel . By the middle of 2004 all the books currently in print were outlined and slotted into niches in the series—which to the dismay of fans suffered delays while the two lead writers tried repeatedly to synchronize their schedules close enough to write , which lead a parade of titles where the release was held up least plot details be ruined. Subsequent titles will likely not suffer similar delays, but the number of titles released in a given year is limited by agreement between Flint and the publisher. Battles by the New United States The New United States was the up-timer name for their revolutionary republic formed towards the end of 1631 in the novel , when the displaced Americans of Grantville earned goodwill in central Germany by forming a loose alliance with Gustav's cavalry forces under Alex MacKay after the dialog exchange: ::"Tilly's beasts are pouring into Thuringia. They will be taking the larger cities soon, then plundering the countryside like locusts. I cannot possibly stop them, not with my few hundred cavalrymen. But—" His eyes fixed on Michael's revolver. Suddenly, startlingly, Michael clapped his hands together. "Oh—''that'' kind of alliance!" he exclaimed. Michael was grinning from ear to ear. The sheer good humor of the the expression, for all the ferocity lurking in it, was like pure sunshine. "Sure, Alexander Mackay. We accept ::::— conversation between Alexander Mackay and Mike Stearns in The joined forces of MacKay's cavalry company and the NUS miners fight several memorable battles during 1631 and 1632: The poignant tear-jerking descriptions of the aftermath of the , the , the and the two phase battles against Spanish regular forces sent from the Spanish Netherlands—the and the . Battle of the Farm House :Setting: ''At an outlying farm in Thuringia just outside the terrain of Grantville relocated in space-time by the Ring of Fire. :''Date: circa May 30th, 1631 This was a three phase meeting engagement within half an hour of Grantville reaching the new universe during the Stearns-Simpson wedding reception, in the 1631 New Time Line (NTL). The first phase was the unprovoked attack on Chief-of-Police Dan Frost and a tag-along group of miners investigating smoke seen down the road away from town as seen from the hillside parking lot of Grantville High School. The ad-hoc party investigated in the direction that had been south and east of Grantville, when Dan Frost was knocked down by a terrified fleeing girl (More in ) who was being chased by two mercenaries and would-be rapists. Frost takes a musket ball in the shoulder and guns the two down in turn, then deputizes the Grantvillers with , who are mainly UMWA miners as a posse with Mike in charge. Sending Frost back for medical care, the posse now alerted, moves across the small cliff left at the edge of the divide between what had been West Virginia and what was the corresponding outside terrain of Thuringia towards a burning farm that can be glimpsed through the foliage. Everyone in the group arms themselves from car-carried weapons before climbing up the crumbling minor cliff formed by the Ring of Fire (ROF) and forming a military-like skirmish line to "hunt" for the source of the smoke. Recognizing more soldiers raping a woman and torturing her husband (his hands are pinned to his own front door using knives), the posse spreads out and rescues the brutalized couple killing the mercenaries in a short savage spate of gun play. Doctor , an out of town wedding guest accompanying his daughter to Rita Stearns' wedding who was chatting with her brother Mike, tends the man while Stearns and the miners tend the woman and try to piece together some idea of what is going on, taking in the different construction, technology, terrain, and direction of the sun. The burning meanwhile was identified as similar near-by farms that have mostly burned out. As Nichols switches his attention to the wife, four more soldiers canter up on horseback and shout something in a foreign language that sounds like it might have been Spanish. When confronted by the Americans who form up in a line, the mounted men flee saying they weren't being paid enough for this. They were supposed to be guards for the carriage which is careening along just behind, in which the Doctor Balthazar Abrabanel and his daughter Rebecca Abrabanel are riding and which is stopped by the coach driver at the new unexpected threat. He also flees, abandoning the occupants in favor of the nearby cover of brush and woodlands, and mostly Ms. Abrabanel is oblivious to all of this and confused in a near panic for her loving father is clearly having a heart attack. As Stearns approaches the carriage, one of the miners spies a cavalry troop pursuing the carriage and shouts a warning. Stearns communicates enough with Rebecca to call Doctor Nichols over, and figure out that the approaching troop would do her harm if they caught her. He quickly sets up an ambush position, and takes up a position in the open where he can draw off any fire away from the carriage. The mercenaries charge and the superior fire power of the up-time fire arms makes quick work of the small force, which breaks and runs when it takes heavy casualties. :Aftermath: ''The farmer and his wife are rescued as are Ms. Abrabanel and father and evacuated back to Grantville. Rebecca had been raised mostly in England during the 1600s and she is able to communicate well enough despite period and dialect differences, and she briefs the townspeople on the local situation and date. The town, whose inhabitants are now alerted to the dangerous times they are encountering, puts out patrols keeping the UMWA posse intact and expanding it under Stearns, and the town fathers, with recourse to historical references and the knowledge of teachers like Melissa Mailey, are forewarned, take what steps seem sensible but quickly decide that the whole town needs to meet. The geographical extent of the ROF is quickly surveyed and fortuitously is found to not have a lot easy access to the terrain surrounding Grantville, which is assessed to be a nearly perfect circle between six and seven miles (11 km) in diameter, pretty nearly centered on the down-town church and business district along either side of . An emergency town meeting is scheduled and held three days after the ROF, during which the town organizes a to govern the town during the near future. The UMWA miners set up a watch and patrol and during its first meetings the Emergency Committee formalizes forming a military contingent around the core of UMWA veterans of Korea and Vietnam. A backhoe loader is utilized to bury the dead mercenaries at the battleground of the farm house, and a warning plaque is placed on the mass grave. Battle of the Crapper '''Timeline: circa June 29—30, 1631, in the novel ' | Best text evidence suggests June 29th or 30th, during the discussion later on in the about trying to talk into delaying the wedding four days to until July 4th, et al. }} also known as The Battle of Badenburg This battle introduces Hans Richter, Gretchen Richter, and the Four Musketeers while spanning a handful of chapters in the flagship novel , and is the first deliberately sought and fought battle by the loosely allied forces of Grantville—led by Mike Stearns and Frank Jackson — joined with the Scottish cavalry of Alexander Mackay and Andrew Lennox. Jackson and Stearns deploy the main American strength in the center of a fortified position across the road to Badenburg about half-a-mile from the town walls. Riflemen dug in, and a M-60 Machine gun offset to enfilade the attacking tercio of about 2,000 Catholic mercenaries. To the right are Hoffman's Battalion, and on both flanks, Alexander Mackay and Andrew Lennox's cavalry detachment where they can sweep around the enemy flank in pursuit and bag the lot as prisoners. Ernst Hoffman is a Protestant mercenary leader whose band of "goons" has been extorting and lording it over the citizens in the walled , making the in mid-to-late June 1631. }} town of under the guise of protecting the inhabitants. They have done absolutely nothing to protect the region outside the towns walls, and Mike Stearns decidesIbid that they will do for the up-timers first act of liberation. The band of about 500 is enticed from behind the town walls to participate in the and breaks to run before the action is fully joined. Flint uses the roughly battalion sized band as well as the opposition mercenary companies answering "Two thousand. Divided two an' one pikes to arquebrusiers. Maybe e'en less."... "This'll be is one o' 'is poorer an' weaker units. They've nae artillery 't'all" }} under to illustrate the perfidious nature of the mercenary armies of the times and the damned-if-we-do, damned-if-we-don't nature of utilizing the freelance companies of the era. If the town hadn't hired the mercenaries, it would have sacked Badenburg, with even worse results. The American/Stearns plan is to deal with both groups of mercenaries using their superior fire power to cow the force.Ibid away, Stearns says] "If I wanted to Mackay," Mike said softly, "I could end this battle right now." ... "I want to do more than just win this battle. I want to terrify them completely—and Hoffman's goons with them. So we'll wait for a bit, until the hammer falls." }} In the event, Hoffman's goons realizing the Americans have broken the Habsburg army, turn from their flight and run to loot, pillage, and rape amongst the Catholics baggage train and camp followers, where Gretchen Richter has hidden her sister, her son, and three other young female camp followers in an old outhouse (the crapper) to protect them from the soldiers. Expecting the mercenaries' actions, the Americans quickly arrive in time to stop the mercenaries by using their outfitted, armored mining trucks (APC). It is in the process of fighting the pillaging soldiers out of the camp and removing the people from the outhouse that Gretchen Richter meets the Four Musketeers and her future husband Jeff Higgins who takes the lead in standing off the Protestant mercenaries mobbing the Catholic's camp. Hoffman, after being tiredly chased by the APC's, is personally placed in handcuffs by Mike Stearns and the mercenary band is captured along with the Catholic remnants. :Aftermath: In three days, many of the Catholic camp followers, including the Richter family, and along with the exempted mercenaries, who are unwilling conscripts and family members of the camp followers, were made as citizens of the New United States; and while the remaining captured mercenaries of both sides were declared as outlaws of the New United States and were forced to leave under two days or face immediate death on sight. Battle of Crapper Lane Timeline: Mid-summer, 1631; in the story This battle was too serious to call a skirmish, and occurred when and , the 'New United States' Arms Czar set out to test ammunition reloads in various combinations for the rifle calibers chosen for the New US Army. They select a lane backed by a hill not far from the burned out farm that furnished the outhouse for the , which is about a half-mile from and observe that someone has cut down or cut into several large trees, and figure out that who ever they were they were looking for the stray US bullets that missed during the battle of the Crapper. As they set up, they discover brigands raiding a nearby farm. The down-timer Germans had chopped down several trees behind the battlefield of the Battle of the Crapper to gauge and evaluate the penetration power of the Grantvillers firearms, and used the knowledge to create an armored (timberclad) wagon. Under fire from Santee and Cantrell, eight of the rogue ex-mercenaries use the timberclad wagon to begin to close on the position of the two Americans. Realizing their bullets will not penetrate, a wounded Santee bravely orders Cantrell to return to the arsenal and return with an elephant gun while he holds them in check himself. Battle of Breitenfeld Timeline: September 17, 1631 The Battle of Breitenfeld did not properly involve Grantville or any of its citizens, but Flint spent three chapters of on it both to educate the reader about the armies of the day, and to thoroughly introduce not only the key historic character of the series Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, who becomes both the beneficiary of the presence of Grantville in the neohistorical seventeenth century, and its ultimate protector against the reactionary nobility and religious authorities in power during that age when the Thirty Years' War killed one in four Germans of the day, but also to introduce and explain why Grantville didn't have any social or political friction from high ranking nobility when the town manifested in southern Thuringia. The fictionalization of the account of this battle is primarily limited to development of Gustuvus II and his staff and Generals via dialogs between participants. The resulting word picture is a gestalt of the known historical (post-mortem or after action reports and many years of informed debate on this world shaping event) facts interleaved with the character building which became the series' depiction of the personality and behavior of Gustavus and several other figures who also play a part in the series. The author Flint becomes the tutor and historian presenting a summary of various arguments and counter arguments bandied about in military history circles these last 350 years. He introduces the pivotal nature of this battles outcome (It would in later years be enshrined as a defense of freedom of belief for all the world complete with monuments and a statue of the Swedish king) and demolishes various myths and points made over the centuries by this or that theorist, and uses the whole to build a picture of warfare of the Pike and Shot age as a whole. Having established the broad outlines of conflict of the day and educated the reader Flint next introduces a somewhat flamboyant Gustavus peering nearsightedly over the early battle and regaling his staff, which includes three of the four Dukes where Grantville is located in the scene indirectly explaining why Grantville hadn't been in any conflict with local high ranking nobility from the start—all four dukes are off far to the north with Gustavus' army separated from their duchy by Tilly's army. The second chapter concludes with the collapse of the Swedish left when the Saxon allies break and flee. Gustavus seizes the moment while being encouraged by his staff to retreat. In a flurry of orders, he has his army refuse the flank on the left even while Tilly has ordered his cumbersome Tercios to exploit the perceived but fleeting weakness. Despite the normal practices of the day, Gustuv's armies were extremely maneuverable for the day and so sped to a response in such a short time that Tilly and his staff couldn't envision—despite warnings from others about Gustavs forces abilities to response rapidly. Only Napoleon, Guiderian, and Patton (all unsurprisingly both fans and students of Gustavus) have a similar stature in the annals of war regarding maneuverability. All in part owe their reputations to lessons learned about his ability to respond rapidly. General Horns Swedish forces successfully refuse the flank and stymie the advancing Catholic forces in the cumbersome tercio's, locking them up and blocking their ability to advance. 's vastly superior artillery begin pounding the Catholic infantry who become stalemated with Horns and the Swedish center and Tilly is powerless to prevent Gustavus's exploitation on the Swedish right flank as his cavalry had been driven from the field by the more disciplined forces using early combined arms tactics. With the right open, Gustavus personally lead a charge (he was known for it) around the catholic flank and capture the Catholic artillery pieces and turn them on the hapless catholic infantry. The resulting slaughter was one of the most decisive battles in history, and Flint's depiction of it breathes versimilitude and clarity. Battle of Jena crossroads Timeline: In the novel , ca. October 1631 reached Grantville toward the end of September... erupted in celebration... two full days. Sweden's great victory a Breitenfeld removed most of the immediate military pressure from Thuringia. Most, but not all. There was no longer any official imperial armies squeezing the province any longer. But Tilly's army, in shattering, had produced a number of splinters. One of them... had decided to seek refuge for the winter south of the Hartz mountains." and "But that rumor they dismissed. Witchcraft was a thing of old women, casting malicious spells on their neighbors—not powerful sorcerers shattering entire armies. They learned otherwise before they got within thirty miles ( ) of Grantville, at a small crossroads not far from ." |pp=p. 291, 292|ch=Chapter 37 }} Flint uses the occasion of the demise of the 's army at Breitenfeld as an opportunity to have a coming out party within Thuringia for Grantville—as an occasion to address Grantville's status vis a vis being the work of the Devil, or a divine miracle. In Flint's words, "Jena was a university town, famed throughout Germany as a center of learning." : "Its Collegium Jenense had been founded in 1558 with the help of the protestant reformer Melancthon. Jena had a population numbering in the thousands, but, unlike , the town was unwalled and essentially unprotected." He goes on to note the town was thrown into a panic, the normal practice was to buy off the approaching army, but Jena had already paid such "extortion money". "It was a moot point anyway. Jena's coffers had already been drained dry by Tilly." "Then came an unexpected offer of assistance. From the mysterious new town to the southwest called Grantville. A sorcerers' town some said. A den of witchcraft and deviltry." "The notables consulted with the university's leading professors. Theologians, to a man. Experts on the Devil and all his works." "The theologians, of course also debated and bickered and squabbled. But not for long. Divine intervention has a way of becoming very clear, when the alternative is a city sacked." "God's will. Accept the offer". Jena Pimp Incident 'Timeline: In the novel , ca. October 1631Ibid The Jena Pimp Incident involves the formidable Gretchen Richter and her first efforts at planting the seeds of a fifth-column thenceforth known as the Committees of Correspondence's in the nearby small city of . Gretchen is dropped off by her husband having accompanied the New United States Army passing outside the city on the way to the ambush they would set up at . Gretchen contacts several women she knows in Jena but is eyed leaving the city gates by a human predator, Max Jungers who is described by Flint as a: "Local tough. Hooligan. Thief. Cutpurse. Would-be pimp."—and one well known to the women Gretchen is meeting with as "trouble". Since Jungers has sought out Gretchen, apparently planning on 'Having his way with her', Gretchen exclaims, "Well, then. I should go speak to him. Since he came all this way to see me." Gretchen leaves suddenly striding out to confront the low-life. "Shit!", exclaimed again. "There's going to be trouble!" Her cousin nodded sadly. "It's too bad. I liked Gretchen." Mathilde stared at her. "Are you mad? Don't you understand yet?" Max Jungers sure enough. He had apparently been lurking at the corner. }} Gretchen stops fifteen feet from Jungers who leers and begins to say something fresh but is interrupted by Gretchen: "Did you see my husband?" Jungers broke off. For an instant his face was still. Then, just as quickly the leer was back More of a sneer, really. "The Big Fat one? Not worried about him." "No reason to be," agreed Gretchen. She nodded, then smiled. The smile was very thin, like a razor. He would have tried to reason with you. That's why I love him so." Gretchen reached into her bodice and removed the 9mm Browning, a type of hand-gun. Jungers looked on, uncomprehending when Gretchen takes a two handed shooters stance after calmly working the slide to chamber a round. A moment later Max Jungers and his dirk would trouble no-one, particularly women on the edge, any more. Gretchen repented a bit for using her first shot to wipe the leer off his face, Chief of Police would not have approved. 'No headshots unless they're wearing armor,' he had insisted, over and again. Gretchen was feeling a little guilty. She just hadn't been able to resist wiping that leer away." }} Gretchen then insists the city watch be called and that there be an investigation. When the victorious army train returns conducting hundreds of prisoners the second concrete example giving evidence of Stearnsian calculating influence, anticipating the event or one like it comes to the fore. "Bad," muttered Mike angrily. "Very bad!" He glared at the cluster of frightened notables. "One of our women molested—after not more than a few hours in this town? Just visiting old friends and distant relatives?" He snarled. "Very bad!" Then visibly restraining his fury: "But—No doubt the town itself was not responsible." The luminaries eagerly agreed, then agreed again when Stearns proposes that perhaps the Americans could help them police the rif-raf of the town—after first all but leveling a tavern where sacrificial lambs— "Friends? Accomplices?" as asked for by Stearns— usually hole up. The American APC32 is impressive, the bombs and rate of rifle fire intimidating and impressive. Perhaps, Stearns dissembles, the town fathers could use some help patrolling the streets and suppressing the less reputable members inflicting themselves on the town. "Wanderbar!", and by the way, why does your flag have that huge field of blue and but a single white star? The star is Grantville, explains Stearns, the field is so large to contain the other towns that may perhaps wish to join the 'New United States'. "Already, Brandenburg is thinking of doing so, and then we'll have two stars." Battle of Eisenach-Wartburg This was a short campaign of two battles on successive days when the authorities in the Spanish Netherlands were manipulated into attacking the upstart American republic forming in Thuringia. The Spanish, accompanied as always by members of the Office of the Holy Inquisition, were incensed that the New United States was reportedly not only not requiring or possessed of a state religion, but did not and would not require people to have any professed beliefs. Having an available army in the struggle to reconquer the Dutch Republic, the Spanish sent a large Pike and shot army to remonstrate with the American led republic, for it was surely backed by, and by its very existence, an act of the Devil himself. Battle of Eisenach NUS forces lead by Mike Stearns first decimate a Spanish army of 10-12,000 invading from the Spanish Netherlands along the Spanish Road, first breaking them and chasing them into taking shelter in the Wartburg. Battle of the Wartburg '''Timeline: ca. June 1632, at Wartburg castle, outside Eisenach After forcing the Spanish army into the castle, the NUS forces then use psychological warfare and napalm to force the complete surrender of the remaining army. The entire affair was a feint however, setting up the deep cavalry raid on Grantville. Battle of Grantville The first sign of battle started when Rebecca Adrabanel was assaulted by a Croatian scouting party till the timely arrival of Jeff Higgins who immediately killed Rebecca's attackers. Not long afterward that with the news of the attack via radio, the citizens of Grantville took shelter into the town, and while those who are armed were make up as an impromptu militia, enforced by Dan Frost, planned a successful ambush for the invading Croatians leaving two-hundred dead and wounded Croats; with the militia bearing minimal casualties. Battle of Grantville High This battle takes place when a group of mercenaries attack the town high school. The students and teachers gather in the gym to defend the school. The high school science teachers, along with others, perish in this fight, however the students and teachers manage to fight off the mercenaries. The battle ended with the arrival of Swedish and Finnish cavalries under the command of Gustavus Adolphus (under the persona of Captain Gars) and Grantville police's German recruits led by Dan Frost and Gretchen Richter. Battles under the CPoE Mike Stearns negotiated the weird government of the Confederated Principalities of Europe because he didn't want the Americans fighting, and so Gustavus as "Captain Gars, Protector-General of the Republic of the New United States" would shoulder the burden in the wake of the attacks on Grantville. So the Republic also became a state within that weird confederation and in truth, after breaking Wallenstein's siege at the Alte Vesta, didn't look to have to fight much at all. Then put together the surprise attacks by the , and the State of Thuringia/NUS was suddenly scrambling in the fall of 1633 to assist Gustavus in protecting his German territories. Battle of Alte Vesta Following Gustavus Adolphus's victories over at Breitenfeld and Battle of the River Lech, the Battle of the Alte Veste is the third battle of OTL that occurs on the same date in the 163x-verse neohistory. However, as the ripples of Grantville's presence manifest in the neohistorical timeline, the Battle of the Alte Veste is the first historic event to demonstrate significant change under Flint's deft fictional treatment. The battle name is given after the name of a ruined fortress that sits outside the Imperial Free City of Nürnberg in the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) where invested the smaller army of Gustavus, who'd occupied the Franconian city. Flint's treatment is the relief of the by the combined armies of Gustavus and the New United States at the very end of the novel . In the battle, Grantville's Armored Personnel Carriers storm the imperial siege lines and create a breakthrough while Julie Mackay wounds , near-fatally, at extreme long rifle range (circa . Julie manages to kill a General on Wallenstein's staff with her first shot which is pushed off by the cross-wind at the extreme range. A subsequent shot hits Wallenstein, but having gone subsonic as it reaches across the long distance, tumbles before it hits and hits Wallenstein in the mouth, which sets the stage for the in . Siege of Luebeck * See Defense of Luebeck Timeline October 7-12th(?), 1633 in the novel , pp. ___ .}} The Defense of Luebeck, or more formally, the Naval Defense of Luebeck was an ad hoc delaying action by United States of Europe up-timers using higher technology to foil a close blockade of the port of Lübeck using timed mines applied by scuba-diving equipped Americans against the powerful surprise invasion fleet sent by the powers of France, Denmark and England intending to cut Gustavus off from his supplies and reinforcements in Sweden, but ultimately aimed at Grantville, whom he is protecting with his armies. The multifaceted attack included concurrent actions on other fronts to hold USE forces pinned to other regions of north and south-central Germany, an overland invasion against northern Germany that became the which managed to trap king Gustavus Adolf II himself, and sufficient naval forces to deal with the numerically inferior Swedish navy escorting additional expeditionary forces sufficient to take and hold other eastern Baltic ports held by the USE or Sweden. Battle of Wismar Timeline October 9, 1633 in the novel The battle of Wismar (or Battle of Wismar Bay, or Battle of Wismar and Rostock) was a combined sea-air defense of the Bay of Wismar arm of the Bay of Mecklenburg—a ad-hoc and somewhat desperate defense against a surprise invasion fleet sent by the powers of France, Denmark and England intending to take and occupy the ports of Wismar and Rostock and thus cut off Gustavus from his supply lines from Sweden. The attack was intended as a masterstroke inspired by the plotting of Cardinal Richelieu, with the further intention of investing Swedish ports as well, once it had landed expeditionary forces and flanked Gustavus's army which was simultaneously being pressed on all fronts—and in particular, being pinned in the overland attack by the French and Dutch at the . Battles under the USE The fomented an internal crisis pitting the rising feelings of nationalism against the interests of the nobility that came to a head in the capital city of the day after the news of the heroic death of Hans Richter reached the capital by radio. Mike Stearns, as the President of the odd New United States which has Gustavus as "Protector-General Gars" ( ) of the nobility-hamstrung Confederated Principalities of Europe acted to head off the incipient riot and characteristically, "stumbled forward" using the crowds mood and reports from Gustavus Adolphus's trusted General to negotiate a new governmental setup, the United States of Europe, by radio in a marathon bargaining session. Stearns becomes the new prime minister of Emperor Gustavus, and the improved parliamentary set-up has a house of commons with teeth—the power of the exchequer and taxation—whereas the commoners in Europe have taken to calling Stearns "The Prince of Germany" whilst its nobles can't decide whether he or Gretchen Richter are their worst nightmares. Outside of small unit clashes, the northern European theater had little happening outside the ongoing siege of Luebeck, though Stearns decided to authorize one mission to send an unmistakable message as 1634 wanes. Raid on Paris Timeline winter 1633-44 in the story In revenge of the death of Hans Richter in the , Chief of Staff of the struggles against weariness and fatigue during a long uncomfortable flight and a threatening thunderhead in a plane ill equipped to power above the turbulent air of the storm system advancing across eastern France. He manages both and bombs Paris, with watching from the balcony off his office. His bombs score direct hits— and thousands of propaganda leaflets deal a blow to the French monarchy in revenge for the Cardinal's engineering of the . Massacre on the English Channel Timeline: January 1634 in the novel |pp= 122-139; date and quote on pp. 138|q= Algerine Pirates picked at random surviving without a boat '... the narrowest stretch of the Strait of Dover which was still many miles away. And he was dead sure they hadn't done it in January. Maybe if he were wearing a wet suit...'}} Harry Lefferts, Captain in the United States of Europe Secret Service and U.S. Army leads a co-ed team of mixed international backgrounds into England in small boat across the English Channel, having wisely departed the after selling three of the four portraits painted by the Dutch masters (See ) before nurse and portrait subject Anne Jefferson realizes he's sold them. The funds are for a good cause though, monies disbursed to buy passage (a whole boat, in fact) for the commando team to effect a rescue of the embassy party locked up in the Tower of London by minister Thomas Wentworth at the behest of King Charles I of England. The voyagers meet up with pirates based in North Africa, who regularly ply their trade in channel waters. Suckering the pirates in close with a bit of comic sexmanship, the deadly commando team mercilessly cuts down the pirate crew in a hail bullets from up-time guns and for good measure toss an improvised incendiary device aboard to ensure the dead men tell no tales of the commando teams coming to England. Raid on the Wietze oil fields Timeline: Early spring 1634 in the novel , pp. 509-526}} Newly minted Field Marshal , Viscomte of Turrenne leads a cavalry raid using their new percussion based breech loading carbines against the new oil fields south of Luebeck that the Americans hope will restore gasoline and diesel fuel to their strategic materials bag of tricks. Battle of Kiel ("Schooling of the French Frigate Raileuse") Timeline: Early spring 1634 in the novel , pp. 496-508}} In this brief battle, a headstrong French Frigate captain learns that the power of just two explosive carronade shells is more than a wooden ship can take. He also learns his eighteen pound cannon are totally ineffective against the United States Navy's despite out scoring the Americans four hits to two. The battle comes to an abrupt end as the aft hitting shell flares up into a fire which threatens to engulf the ship in short order—fire was always a problem in wooden ships for even most things that weren't wood were covered with tar and pitch (Oakum) as preservative against water damages. Battle of Mecklenburg Bay/Battle of Luebeck Bay Timeline: Early spring 1634 in the novel , pp. 536-544}} The naval action in the Bay of Mecklenburg pitted the steam engine powered carronade armed timberclad warships and diesel-powered ironclads developed in Magdeburg by United States of Europe Admiral against the combined English, French and Danish fleets blockading Lübeck Bay from the fall of 1633 through the spring of 1634 to relieve the . The battle is very one-sided, with the USE naval forces being equipped with radio, having a scouting airplane in constant contact, and a weight of metal with explosive shells from both ten-inch ( ) naval rifles and devastating carronades versus the eighteen-pounder naval cannons of the 17th century warships, results in a USE victory without loses. The destruction of the League's warships forces its coalition of Danish, English, and French armies to withdraw from Lübeck. Escape from the tower Timeline: January through slightly later spring 1634 in the novel , pp. 545-583}} ;Setting – Inside and outside the Tower of London, London, Kingdom of England This battle (or event) title was at one time plotted to be a novel title, but Flint decided to shuffle outlined plot elements around between books into new groups when he and David Weber were unable to get together writing in their second attempt to schedule a mutually agreeable time-window (The third window of opportunity was the charm). In this story, the USE embassy party that has been interred for well over six months (imprisoned summer 1633 to early spring 1634) in the Tower of London by Charles I of England and his minister Thomas Wentworth, newly minted Earl of Strafford thanks to the American history books, are broken out of their comfortable lodgings by a commando team headed by the redoubtable Harry Lefferts and the sharpshooting of Julie Mackay née Sims. In the event, circumstances have aligned to make some of the Beefeaters of the tower, the Yeoman Warders decide to side with the Americans for they have been alienated from their English loyalties by being insulted by the new prime minister, Richard Boyle, governing England in Charles' name. Parts of the tower were damaged by the Leffert team's dynamite, though most death dealing was by the marksmanship of Julie, who'd rendezvoused with Leffert's unit. About fifty individuals depart the tower environs with alacrity down the Thames on a barge and one boat. To sow confusion and lead a false trail, Leffert's team also blows up repairable parts of London Bridge and burns down Shakespeare's Globe Theater. The group is later rescued by the USE timberclad Achates, co-commandeered by USE prime minister Mike Stearns. Battle of Ahrensbök Timeline: slightly later spring 1634 in the novel , pp. 584-610}} This battle is detailed mostly from the point of view of Sergeant and his observations as part of the new USE army's units. With the destruction of the League's blockade of Lübeck, coalitions of French and Danish forces were forced to retreat to their respectful homelands; the Danish were fortunate enough to leave to their closely situated country while the French have to trek hundreds of mile across Germany with little supplies to replenish. Lennart Torstenson and his commanded forces intercept the French retreating forces near Ahrensbök. Sergeant Engler and his Flying Artillery unit faced French cavalry soldiers and decisively defeated them with Mitrailleuse artillery fire. Battle of Copenhagen Timeline: later spring 1634 in the novel The Battle of Copenhagen was detailed in when Admiral Simpson took his Ironclads and timberclads into Copenhagen using a southern approach, thus by-passing a mining effort put down by the minions of king Christian IV of Denmark. Occurring in the spring of 1634, the fleet was harassed by torpedo boats armed with spar torpedos which attempted to close under the cover of smoke generators—the technique for which Christian's spies had garnered from the libraries at Grantville. The Danes were able to disable one ironclad ship with the torpedoes, which was intentionally grounded. Its rifled naval canons were subsequently transported overland (in a bit of comic narration) to by Admiral Simpson's son and Lieutenant in when ended up in the hands of to aid in the expected attack against the Catholic armies in the south, still being in control in . Transporting the naval canon turned out to be a fools errand given the road conditions in 1634, but the outcome does place some castle busters on scene for future confrontations, and there is an allusion to both Mike Stearns and Emperor Gustavus being pleased with that outcome for the future possibilities. Within the Battle of Copenhagen, the whole action after the torpedo boats devolved into a demonstration of the futility of resisting the USE naval force by reducing the to rubble in a bombardment. The scene was given some gravity by negotiations before and after between Simpson and King Christian IV, and the bombardment itself was both hair raising and comic in that the prisoner had been incarcerated in the castle as punishment for misleading Christian during drunken attempts to pump him for information, particularly regarding technologies. Notes Category:1632 series